German Society of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgery.
80th Annual Meeting of the German Society of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgery.
Rostock,
20.-24.05.2009.
DÃ¼sseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2009. Doc09hno001

Outline

Background: Sensitization against a multitude of different allergens is a common problem in the treatment of allergies with specific immunotherapy (SIT). The aim of this retrospective study was to investigate the risk of simultaneous administration of two or more allergens during SIT with a conventional or Cluster regimen.

Methods: The data of 158 patients receiving different forms of SIT between 2002 and 2007 were evaluated and local (LR) and systemic reactions (SR) were compared.

Results: Patients received a total number of 3178 injections during dose-increase and 4102 injections during maintenance phase. The rate of LR increased during dose-increase phase with rising number of parallel injections (for 1A 0.7%, for 2A 1.5% and for 3A 4.9%). The rate of SR during dose-increase phase was also higher with patients who received simultaneous allergen injections. The increment was however not significant with conventional (for 1A 0%, for 2A 0.3% and for 3A 0.7%) or Cluster therapy (for 1 A 0.3%, for 2A 0.5% and for 3A 0.4%). No increment of SR with rising numbers of parallel allergen injections did occur during maintenance phase (for 1A 0.3%, for 2A 0.1% and for 3A 0.1%).

Conclusion: The results of the present study indicate that a higher rate of local and systemic reactions must be considered during dose-increase phase independent of the kind of induction regime used. Adverse events with 2 different allergen extracts however seem tolerable compared to other safety studies. After reaching maintenance phase there does not seem to be a higher risk of experiencing a SR with parallel allergen injections.